Home. A small, four-letter word with so much meaning. The official definition of home, according to the English Oxford Dictionary is "The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household." While this may be the most common definition of a home, a home is so much more than that. According to Merriam-Webster, Home is "the social unit formed by a family living together." These two definitions may express different meanings of what a home is, but they are both so true. A home is a place that provides shelter and protection. It is a place where we have food and water. Most importantly, it is a place where we come together as a family, a place that provides comfort and a place where we are loved.

A home is not just a place where you go home after work or a place where you lay around all Sunday when it's raining. Your home should be a place where you feel welcomed and where you can feel at ease. Your home should provide joy and happiness because that is how it should be when you are in the presence of family. In your home, you and your family should share long talks around the dinner table, endless laughter on family game night, and even a few tears every once in a while. Your home should be one of your favorite places to be and you should miss home when you have been away because home is a place where you can be yourself; where everyone supports everyone; where everyone is loved.

My home, however, does not feel like home. My home feels like a hotel and I'm just an ordinary guest. When I walk into my home, I am rarely greeted, or even worse I am given an awkward hello or head nod. Half the time my family doesn't even know I'm there. In my home, I'm often confined to my bedroom, because that's the only place where I actually feel at "home." When I am home, it's usually only to sleep, because if I'm there any longer I'll just be alone. I can't remember the last time we sat and ate as a family or the last time we had a family game night. I really can't even remember the last time we simply sat and watched tv together. I might as well live on my own because I don't ever see anyone and it's basically like I already do anyways.

If a home is a place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family and if a home is a social unit formed by a family living together, then why am I never there and when I am there, why am I always alone? Sure, my home provides shelter and protection, but what does that matter if it doesn't provide comfort, support and love. A true home should consist of all of these things. It should provide shelter and protection, food and water. But, if a home lacks support and comfort and love, then quite honestly, it's not really a home.